


Teaghlaigh Deo

by KazOfScotland



Series: To Be Family! [2]
Category: Blue Bloods (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-04-14 01:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4545105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazOfScotland/pseuds/KazOfScotland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teaghlaigh Deo - Irish for Family Forever</p>
<p> <br/>A year to year view at life for Joe Reagan and his daughter. This is a follow on to "Normality" For A Reagan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1999

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is part one of Teaghlaigh Deo. I have proof read this myself but I don't have a beta reader so if anyone is interested comment or message me on fanfiction.net @ SeamenScotty   
> Also I'm not to sure when the next part will be up, I kinda gave up writing this a while cause I thought it sucked but got told to post it, so let me know if I should continue. All it takes for me to continue this is for a few kudos or a comment. thanks and criticism is welcome as well

1999

With an hour and a half left until the end of tour, Joe Reagan was in an amazing mood. Tonight Joe was planning to ask his girlfriend to marry him; Marie was his girlfriend of seven years and she currently seven and a half months pregnant with his daughter. Joe had spoken to his older brother earlier on and ever since he had not stopped smiling.

"What's up, kid? You've not stopped smiling all night," Joe's partner, Anthony Renzulli, asked as they stopped at a set of traffic lights. Renzulli likes the young Reagan and he was generally curious as to what was going on with Joe.

"It's a month and a half until Fallon-Ann is born and I am going to ask Marie if she'll marry me," Joe told Renzulli before they pulled away from the traffic lights. The idea of twenty one year old Joe Reagan getting married and having a daughter was quite surprising.

"Congrats, Joe, I mean it," Renzulli said just as they were called to back up fire service at a serious car accident. This effectively stopped all conversations and caused Joe's smile to grow smaller.

Renzulli and Joe started to check the eight cars as soon as they arrived and got out of the squad car. All they could smell was fire and smoke but the two officers had a job to do and they couldn't stop.

Joe froze when he saw the Chevy Nova that belonged to Marie, and then all of a sudden it dawned on Joe, the love of his life and unborn daughter where in that car. He ran as fast as possible towards the car with Renzulli following him. All he wanted was to make sure that Marie and his daughter were okay, it was his protective streak that caused it.

Renzulli was worried about what it would do to Joe if his daughter and Marie were injured or worse. Marie and his unborn daughter were the most important people in Joe's life; Renzulli knew that Marie and their unborn child were Joe's reason to get up in the morning after the cases that would make anyone want to throw in the towel and get the hell out of dodge. If Joe didn't have that then that meant that Joe didn't have his edge.

"Renzulli, we need a bus!" Joe yelled as he saw his girlfriend, the one he wanted to marry. "Marie look at me please," he begged as he applied pressure to where Marie was bleeding from her femoral artery. "Marie, I'd been going to ask you tonight but I'll ask you now just in case. Marie Jennifer O'Donnell, will you marry me?" Joe asked in a rush as he hugged her tightly. He saw her nod as she placed her hand on his shoulder and her other hand on her stomach.

"Fallon-Jo, call her Fallon-Jo," Marie whispered in her Irish accent just as her eyes started to flutter. "I love you..." she coughed up some blood, "Joe," she finished before she fell into a world of blackness. This is what had worried Renzulli, Marie being seriously injured.

"Where's that bus, Renzulli?" Joe yelled as he ran a hand through Marie's hair. "Stay with me, Marie. I can't lose you and our baby girl needs you," Joe pleaded with his fiancé before he pleased the engagement ring on Marie's finger. Joe didn't want to admit it but he knew that Marie was likely, likely to die all because of this stupid car accident. "I love you, Marie, you hear me, I love you and our baby," Joe whispered with tears in his eyes as he heard the ambulance arrive.

"Sir, you've gotta move out the way. We need to get in," one of the paramedics said as soon as they stopped in front of the car. "Please sir," the paramedic, a woman in her mid-twenties, said when she noticed that Joe was holding the injured woman's hand in a loving manner.

"Come on, Joe, let them in," Renzulli said as he pulled Joe away from the car. "Let them save Marie and your daughter. We'll escort them, Marie will be treated by the best," Anthony Renzulli promised as he and Joe saw the paramedics lift Marie out of the car and rush her to the ambulance. Renzulli pushed Joe into the passenger seat of their squad car before he got in the driving seat and they sped out. Due to the fact that it was a life and death call Renzulli was allowed to give the ambulance an escort.

\--

"She said yes," Joe whispered in a slight state of shock as they arrived at the hospital. Both Joe and Renzulli jumped out of the squad car as the paramedics unloaded Marie. Joe ran into the emergency room of St. Victors after Marie but was stopped by his sister-in-law, Linda who was Danny's wife. 

"Joe," Linda whispered as she pulled the twenty one year old into a hug. The nurse from Staten Island continued to hold her brother-in-law as she felt him begin to cry, not that she could blame him, if it was Danny or Emily that they were rushing in then she would be the exact same. She could understand how Joe was probably feeling right now. "Marie and Fallon-Ann will be fine," she said softly.

"Fallon-Jo. Marie wants us to call her Fallon-Jo," Joe whispered between sobs as Linda  held him, allowing him to use her as a support. Joe was petrified of losing Marie and possibly his daughter. "I asked her and she said yes," Joe added as Linda lead him over to the waiting area to get him to sit down. He was in a state of shock as he sat down and Linda sat down beside him.

"I'm going to phone Danny, you need family," Linda said as she tried to sooth her brother-in-law. In all the time that Linda had known the Reagan's she had never seen Joe so upset. Although she didn't know if leaving the twenty one year old alone was a good idea, Linda knew she needed to phone her husband, so Linda slowly stood up and left Joe.

On her way to phone Danny, Linda stopped Joe's partner, Anthony Renzulli, who was heading towards the waiting room. "Keep an eye on him please," the nurse from Staten Island requested as they both looked over at Joe.

"I've got Joe if you can let Danny and the others know, Linda," Renzulli replied with his voice full of worry. The cop who had formerly been Joe's training officer was concerned about how the youngest Reagan cop was dealing with Marie and his unborn child being in surgery. "Trust me, Joe will be fine," he assured Linda before he continued through to where Joe was sat.

Joe Reagan wasn't sure how long he had been sat with Renzulli waiting for news on Marie and his daughter, Fallon-Jo. He did however know that at some point his parents, Frank and Mary, along with his siblings, Danny, Erin and Jamie, had all appeared. No one had said anything though, Jamie had just sat next to him while Mary, his mother, sat on his other side holding his hand.

\--

"Family of Marie O'Donnell?" the doctor asking for his fiances family pulled Joe out of his own world. He looked at the doctor and froze when he saw the look of sympathy on the doctor's face.

"No, it can't be. Please tell me she's not," Joe begged as his mother and older brother, Danny, each tried to keep Joe standing. "Please!" he pleaded.

"Sir, we need to operate if we wish to save her child. Sir you need to agree now, I can't give you any time to consider. I need an answer now, Sir," the doctor said as he watched the young police officer process what he had just been told. He knew it was a lot for the young man to take in but he needed an answer. He needed an answer so that the unborn child could have a chance of living and making it so that the day wasn't a total tragedy for the family.

"Joe, you need to say yes," the voice of reason came from the youngest there, Jamie Reagan, as he looked at his big brother, his best friend, struggle to make the decision that would ultimately mean that Joe would still have a part of Marie with him and not just memories.

"Do the surgery. Save our daughter," Joe stated shakily as he nodded in agreement with the doctor. "Just do whatever you need to do to save our daughter, please!" the youngest Reagan cop pleaded as the doctor handed him the consent form to sign. Which is exactly what he did, he signed it and the doctor ran, literally ran off to perform the surgery.

\--

An hour, sixty minutes, later Joe looked up when a nurse entered the waiting room. They were the only people left in the waiting room so Joe knew that it meant that there was news on his daughter, on whether his child had survived or not. He had somehow managed over the past sixty minutes to pull himself together, so he stood up and approached the nurse alone while praying to a god he wasn't too sure existed that his daughter was alive and well.

"Your daughter is in the NICU if you want to come and see her. She is small, but she is fighting strong, Sir," the nurse said causing Joe to sigh in relief and run his hand over his face. When he nodded the nurse smiled and spoke again. "This way, Sir," she said before leading him off to finally see his daughter, his reason to get up in the morning, his reason for everything.

The moment Joseph Connor Reagan laid his eyes on the small child lying in the incubator in the NICU he fell in love. Okay, maybe he had already loved his daughter before she was born but he loved her even more now. He was also scared, okay terrified, she looked too small to be able to be okay.

"She's small, and due to her size we've put her on oxygen and we'll be monitoring her extremely closely to make sure that nothing changes. You can go in and see her though," the nurse informed Joe after seeing the look of worry. She waited until he nodded before she let him enter the room that his daughter was in. "Did you have a chance to name her yet?" she asked when she looked at the chart while Joe stood over the incubator watching his daughter in awe.

"Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan. Welcome to the world, baby girl," he whispered softly as he slowly, almost hesitantly moved his hand to touch his daughter's tiny hand. He stopped though for the fear of hurting her. "Your mum would have loved you the moon and back, Fallon-Jo," he told his daughter softly as he continued to watch her sleep soundly.

"Your daughter is tough and her name sounds tough as well, it's just what she needs - a name with meaning," the nurse told him as she moved to stand next to him. "You are allowed to touch her, you won't hurt her," the nurse assured him as he slowly put his hand in to brush across his daughters tiny fist, much like a Reagan she was ready for a fight.

\--

For the first two weeks after his fiancé was killed he worked his tours and spent the rest of his time at the hospital with his daughter. It was the only way that he could deal with the death of Marie and the position that he had ended up in. Marie's parents were taking him to court for custody of Fallon-Jo, they believed that he wasn't the best person to raise Fallon-Jo because he was a cop and his job sometimes put him in danger. They wanted to raise Fallon-Jo with no connection to Joe or the rest of the Reagan family, as they believed that Marie would not have been living in New York if it were not for Joe but instead in Philadelphia with them.

He was currently sat in the NICU holding his daughter carefully. It had been a tough tour for him so he went straight to see Fallon-Jo, she may only be two weeks old but she always lit up his day, she was like a shining star or an angel sent from God. When he looked up he wanted to groan, Marie's parents were standing outside glaring at him.

"Layla," that was the nurse that he had met the day his daughter was born. "Do you mind taking Fallon-Jo for a few minutes? I need to deal with them," he asked as he nodded towards the window where Marie's parents were.

Layla nodded and happily took Fallon-Jo, over the two weeks that the baby had been in the hospital she had become close to Joe and his daughter. She was happy to help the young cop out with his daughter, she knew that it would be tough for him on his own, but that he would do his best for his daughter - so long as Fallon-Jo's grandparents didn't take her from him and ruin her whole family.

"They're not going to win the case, Reagan. You may be a cop but you will look after Fallon-Jo better than anyone else because she is your daughter," Layla told Joe as she stood rocking Fallon-Jo in her arms. "My mum managed to raise me and my older brother while working a beat after my dad was killed on the job, so you can raise Fallon-Jo. Tell them that if a cop who works a beat and at a diner managed to raise a nurse and a solider, on her own then you can too," Layla told Joe before he stepped through the door and the out to speak to his daughter's grandparents. She hoped that what she had told him would help Joe.

\--

"It is in my opinion that Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan will best be raised by her father, Officer Joseph Connor Reagan. As condition to this Officer Reagan will have to be willing to spontaneous visits from Child Protective Services and a review case in two years’ time unless it is seen that Officer Reagan is not suitable to raise Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan or it is seen that is no further risk to Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan at which point the case will be shut," the whole Reagan family sighed in relief as the Judge read out her verdict, while Mr and Mrs O'Donnell dropped their heads in defeat. Mr O'Donnell waited for a moment before he stood up, angry at the verdict.

"How is Officer Reagan going to be able to raise my granddaughter when he is a cop and he could be killed at any moment? He could not even name my granddaughter a decent name, how does that mean that Officer Reagan is capable of raising my granddaughter? He isn't even old enough to be a father?" Mr O'Donnell demanded the answers as he glared across the court room at the female Judge and the twenty-two year old cop. He wanted his granddaughter as far away from the, in his opinion, no good horrible cop.

"Officer Reagan, do you have anything you wish to say to Mr O'Donnell?" the Judge asked, this was not how her cases usually went but she felt that this family deserved a little bit of help. In her honest opinion the O'Donnell's did not deserve their granddaughter, she had heard their plan to keep Joe Reagan and his family away from his daughter and to move out of state, change their names and just vanish.

"I can raise my daughter when I am at risk of being killed at any moment because I made a back up plan, if anything happens to me, my parents will look after Fallon-Jo for me. The name Alicejoanne Fallon Marie is a decent name, and what me and my fiancé choose to name our daughter has no affect on how I will raise my daughter. I am twenty one years old, I have been on the job for three years," Joe replied as before he nodded to the judge. "Do you mind if I leave? I haven't seen my daughter in six weeks and I wish to see her," he requested as he met the Judges eyes.

"Go and collect your daughter, Officer Reagan," the Judge told Joe as she nodded. Joe stood up and nodded to the Judge before he left.

\--

Four hours later Joe lifted his daughter from her car seat and carefully wrapped the blanket tighter around Fallon-Jo. She was two months old and he wanted to protect her from everything, he never wanted to let her out of his sight, he had already been separated from his daughter for six weeks.

He knew that no one had taken his daughter to meet her mother so he decided to introduce them. He knelt before Marie's grave and then spoke.

"Marie, love, this is our daughter, Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan, we all call her Fallon-Jo, just like you wanted. Baby girl, this is your mummy, I call her Marie," he started before he began to tell Marie all about their daughter and what had happened during the last two months.

Ten minutes later twenty one year old Joe Reagan sat in front of his ex-girlfriends grave holding his two month old daughter, Fallon-Jo Marie Reagan. It had been two months and a half since Marie had been killed in a car accident causing Fallon-Jo to be born early.

He pulled the blanket around Fallon-Jo tighter to try and fight off the cold. He ran his hand over Marie’s name before he carefully stood up.

“I will do my very best, Marie, I promise,” Joe quietly stated as he pressed a kiss to Fallon-Jo’s head and made his way to his car to go home.

"I will protect you forever, Fallon-Jo, I promise..."

\--

"Hey Reagan, good to have you back, Garcia said that you got custody of your daughter," it was one of the other cops in his precinct that spoke. Joe didn't really care though, he had been out of the precinct on an undercover job for three months and his daughter, was seven months old and now in perfect health.

"Yeah, it's good to be back," Joe replied, he didn't mention his daughter though because he just wanted to get back to the job, working the streets. His first love was his daughter but his second was the job.

"Reagan, you're with me today," the gruff Italian voice came from behind the two officers. The other officer had to turn to find out who it was but Joe knew instantly. His partner, Anthony Renzulli, was the type of person who you instantly recognised with no trouble.

"Good to know, Renzulli," Joe replied glad that he was with a partner that he knew had his back, the others in the precinct he didn't quite trust to have his back like Renzulli and Issy would.


	2. 2000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may take a while for me to finish but here is the second chapter

2000

“Hey Reagan, you want to grab a couple of beers after tour?” the officer partnered with Isabella Garcia asked as they left roll call. Joe didn’t blame the guy for asking, but he wished that like the others he knew that the answer would be no and that it would be pointless to ask.

“Sorry, no can do,” Joe answered before he headed off towards his patrol car for the day. He was riding solo and doing visits to local schools to check on some of their ‘at risk’ kids. It had been his Sergeant’s idea to show the public that they did more than just arrest criminals, that they took action to prevent crimes.

Joe refused to be asked one more time if he was skipping out on a couple of beers for a date. Most of the cops in the precinct knew what had happened only a year earlier and that Fallon-Jo was his first and only concern for the foreseeable future. 

-

“Reagan, you and Renzulli are to trail a suspected rapist tomorrow,” his desk sergeant told Joe as he handed in his paperwork from that day. At the sergeant’s words Joe felt his heart drop. He had planned to take Fallon-Jo to the Zoo for the day as it was her birthday and meant to be his day off shift.

“Sure, Serge,” he replied as he signed his last form and headed towards the locker room. All the while thoughts of his daughter’s birthday, and the significance of today was playing through his mind. He knew he should have listened to his family and taken today and the next day off, spend time with Fallon-Jo and then go back to work.

As he got changed his best friend, Isabella ‘Issy’ Garcia, walked in and tapped him on the shoulder causing him to twitch and turn around to glare at her. She had managed to tap the tender spot where his tattoo was healing, the tattoo which read ‘Alicejoanne Fallon Marie’.

“You had to get the tattoo, didn’t you, Issy?” the Reagan commented as he pulled his shirt on over his t-shirt. He knew that something was up and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when Issy lent against his locker with a small, shy smile. “Issy, what’s up?” he asked throwing his arm over her shoulders, it was the first time in nearly eight months that he had not been partnered with either Issy or Renzulli, so that meant that they hadn’t spoken at all throughout the day.

“Do you and Fallon-Jo fancy having some company tonight?” Issy asked as she settled into his one armed hug. For the first time since that morning she felt safe, and that was why she was praying that he would let her stay the night at his. “It was a bad tour,” she explained when he settled a questioning look on her.

“Sure. C’mon, I’ll give you a lift, you can spring for the pizza,” he answered before he led her out of the locker room, ready to go and pick up Fallon-Jo and head home for a night of television and pizza.

-

Issy turned off Joe’s bedroom light as she made her way from the door to his bed, amusingly to most if Issy was staying at Joe’s house, ever since Marie’s death, she and Joe would share his bed. There was no risk of anything occurring between the two.  

“Hey Reagan, shift over,” Issy said as she lay down on the left side of his bed and gave him a small elbow to the ribs when she realised that he was lying in the middle of the bed, meaning that she had very little room to lie down and sleep. When she felt the bed shift and him move, she gave a small sigh of relief that although he gave her room to lie down and sleep, he stayed close enough that if she wanted to she could easily touch him if she needed reassurance. “Thanks, Joe,” she added at the same time as she rolled onto her right side so as to be able to see him in the dim lighting.

“What happened today, Is?” he asked once he had also rolled onto his side to face her. He wanted to make sure that everything was okay with her, if anything was seriously wrong then he wanted to be able to help her. He had known Issy since he was at school, and although he says that she is his best friend, she is so much more; Issy was his soul mate but not in a romantic sense, they had never had any romantic feelings for each other. “You can tell me, Issy,” he promised as she curled in until her head was rested against his chest.

“They had me working undercover, that rookie was my backup, but he turned down his radio…” she started to sob at that point. Her words becoming nonsense and muffled into the t-shirt Joe was wearing. “I’ve never experienced _that_ with a guy before, Joe. I mean, I knew it could happen but I said the word, they should’ve have been there, they should have stopped _it_ ,” she explained as he wrapped his arms around her and gently calmed her down.

“It’s not your fault, you did your job, Issy.”

-

The following morning Joe and Fallon-Jo were sat on his living room floor playing with building blocks which the one-year-old kept knocking over. Despite it being repetitive this is what Joe lived for, spending time with his daughter having fun. Normally his mornings were a rush meaning that he and Fallon-Jo had very little time to just sit and have fun, but due to his desk sergeant’s decision to have him and Renzulli trailing the suspected rapist when he was meant to be off shift meant that he did have at least a little time to spend with his daughter before he had to go to work. And he was determined to make the most that he could out of it.

-

Anthony Renzullli was not stupid, by no means. He may not always make the smartest decision but he had good instincts when it came to reading people, and today his instincts were screaming at him that something was wrong with his rookie. He knew that the significance of the previous few days were playing on the young Reagan’s mind, but he also knew that it was something more, something else angering the young man who he had seen grow over the last few years.

In the years that he had known the young man he had seen him travel through hell and back, but he had never seen him this angry before, not even when his ex-fiancé’s parents tried to revoke his custody of his daughter. He had seen Joe work his shift and head straight to the hospital to sit with Fallon-Jo until he had to leave for his next shift and then do it all over again for two weeks before he was banned from seeing Fallon-Jo, at which point his routine only changed slight. He would work his tours and then do everything possible to make sure that the judge would grant him full custody of his daughter. He worked extra tours to save up enough money to get a better apartment.

In all honest, the Italian American was growing worried at the level of anger emanating off of the young man.

-

Officer Joe Reagan was pissed off about being stuck on shift, tailing a suspected rapist while his sister, Erin, got to spend the day with Nicki, Emily and his daughter. It wasn’t that he had a problem with his daughter spending time with Erin, his problem was the fact that it was unlikely he would make it home before his daughter fell asleep and he had wanted to spend more than an hour with her. The only upside was that he was partnered with Renzulli.

“What’s up, Reagan?” the older officer asked as they sat in the unmarked police car outside the suspect’s house waiting for the next two officers to come and take over watching the suspect.

“It’s Fallon-Jo’s birthday today and I’ve more than likely missed it because of this today,” Joe told his former training officer as he watched the suspect move around the house. He couldn’t understand how he was meant to just sit there, watching the suspect, after what nearly happened to his best friend just the day before whilst she was working. “I promised Marie that I would never miss anything with Fallon-Jo. That was one of the last things I told her,” he admitted to Renzulli just as the shift to take over watching the suspected rapist arrived and he let out a sigh of relief.

Joe could see Renzulli thinking about something as he started the unmarked car. Renzulli was thinking for a way that Joe could see Fallon-Jo before she was asleep on her birthday, the day after the anniversary of Marie’s death.

“Stop and see your daughter before we go back to the precinct,” Renzulli ordered his former rookie. The older man knew that Fallon-Jo had a tough start to life, so he wanted Joe to see her on her birthday.

-

After doing all their paperwork, both Joe and Renzulli left to make their ways home. Joe literally planned to sit watching his daughter sleep until he knew for sure that his little girl was in one piece and really there. He still had nightmares sometimes; nightmares that his daughter had died along with Marie in the car accident, nightmares that there was a grave next to Marie’s with a name that read ‘Alicejoanne Fallon Marie Reagan’. Last night had been a night when the nightmares attacked despite the fact that he wasn’t on his own, and he honestly felt guilty over having woken Issy up three times.

As he stopped at the traffic lights just a half mile from his apartment, he glanced over at the passenger seat and couldn’t fight off the smile that graced his features when he saw Fallon-Jo sleeping soundly next to him. It seemed as though she didn’t know the significance of today, but in the future he would ensure that she did, just as he would make sure that she knew about her mother and how much she was loved by them both despite Marie not being there.

He knew though, regardless of what the future held, Fallon-Jo would always be his first priority. He would do anything and everything he could to ensure that his little girl had the best life he could even if it meant leaving her or doing things that could cause him a lot of problems.


	3. 2001

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* If you were affected by the horrendous attacks on 9/11 you do not have to read this. This chapter does had mention of the 9/11 attacks, however I have made it so that if you do not read this chapter due to the content it will not matter. 
> 
> I also apologise for the shortness of this chapter because it could not be continued without it being required that you read it. I also believe that the next few chapters will be short.

**2001**

In the Reagan family it was not unusual to see them together at church on a Sunday; Erin with her husband, Jack, and daughter, Nicki; Danny with Linda, Emily and Jack; Joe and Fallon-Jo; then Henry, Frank, Mary and Jamie. But other than that they did not get to spend much time together. So with a bit of planning, Danny had set up a get together for his daughter’s fourth birthday.

As such, every member of the Reagan family was in the local park for a day of fun to celebrate Danny’s daughter’s birthday. Nicki, Emily and Fallon-Jo were running around playing together, whilst the adults sat discussing any idea that came to mind. It was this one day that would forever be in the mind of the adults sat around the table as a day of unbeatable family fun.

-

Seventeen-year-old Jamison ‘Jamie’ Reagan watched as his three nieces ran around the park chasing after his oldest brother. He knew every single day that there was a chance that his brothers, his dad wouldn’t make it home that night, that they could be killed in the line of duty at any single moment, leaving them all with a momentous hole that they previously filled.

He glanced back down at his history book as he leant back against the tree he was sitting under. It was a Sunday and although he wished that he could be playing with the others he knew he had to pass his history test the following day. However, it was hard to concentrate when his family kept trying to get him to join in with the birthday celebration.

“Jamie,” he looked up as his brother, and best friend, twenty-three-year-old, Joe. “You okay, kiddo?” His brother asked as he took a seat next to him. For some reason Joe was always able to know when something was up and more than just what he was telling them.

“Yeah, Joe, I’m fine,” Jamie answered, silently pleading that for once Joe wouldn’t push him to tell him everything. Hoping for Joe to leave something well enough alone was like hoping for there to be a single day where there would not be any type of crime happening. Joe was a Reagan, and Reagan’s were stubborn, they didn’t give up.

“Jamie,” Joe’s voice held that sigh, the sigh that told him that Joe knew something was wrong and that he would get to the bottom of it. “I can tell when you’re lying, so just tell me what’s wrong. You don’t have to tell mum and dad, or even Danny. Just let me know what’s up, kid,” Joe basically pleaded with the teenager. Although he had his own family, his own life to worry about, he would forever worry about his siblings; not just Jamie but Danny and Erin too.

“It’s Emily’s birthday, Joe. We’re meant to be celebrating,” Jamie stated before he glanced back down at his history book.

“You’re telling me tonight, Jamie,” Joe told his youngest brother in a tone that left no argument. Before his brother could retort through, Fallon-Jo came running up to her two favourite people.

“Play, Uncle J. Play too, daddy. Come play wit’ us,” she pleaded before she ran off towards her older cousins, Emily and Nicki, leaving Jamie and Joe to laugh at her bluster.

“We’re gonna get you, kiddos!” Joe yelled as the two Reagan’s took off to chase after the three children. “Come on, Jamie, you gotta keep up,” he joked as they ran off to play with their nieces.

-

Tuesday, 11th September 2001. Danny Reagan was at home with his wife, Linda, and son, Jack. Erin Reagan was sorting her daughter, Nicki, for a day at nursery whilst her husband was on his way to work. Frank Reagan was at work, his wife, Mary, at home and his son, Jamie, just making his way to school. Joe Reagan was just waking up and going to see if there was any mail. All in all, it was a normal day for the whole of New York, not just Reagan’s.

8:35am.

It took a mere eleven more minutes for the world to change.

The worst terror attack to ever happen, occurred and everything changed.

-

8:59am.

Joe rushed his daughter out the door towards his car and couldn’t help but ponder on the sight that he could see if he strained his eyes enough; the smoke billowing and the horrors that he would face when he arrived. He raced his daughter towards the one place he knew she would be save, his mother.

“Daddy?” Fallon-Jo’s voice was full of fear that was tearing Joe’s heart to shreds. “Daddy, what’s that?” she questioned in the way that only a two year could, and for once, Joe wished that he had all the answers in the world to give to his little girl.

“I don’t know, baby girl.”

-

When Joe, Danny, Frank and all the other first responders were finally able to leave Ground Zero, the three Reagan’s didn’t even consider what they were doing before they all began the drive back to the house that Joe and Danny had grew up in. The idea of being separated from any member of their family. After seeing the horrors, pulling the people out of the rubble, hearing their painful screams, hearing people scream out in emotional agony when they found out that their loved ones were dead or hadn’t been found yet.

All they wanted was to know that their loved ones, the people they get up for everyday even when it feels impossible, were okay and perfectly safe.

-

There was that welcoming feeling of love, and safety, and home, when Fallon-Jo’s eye’s flickered opened. She had been sleeping using her Uncle Jamie as a pillow what appeared to be only a few moments earlier but now she was curled up on her dad, with his hand running circles on her back.

“Daddy, you home?” the comment caused all of the Reagan’s to burst out laughing as Joe gently rocked his daughter back to sleep. It was late, or early, honestly they had all lost track of time whilst waiting for news on what had happened.

“Sleep, baby girl, sleep.”

-

Everything had changed, the world was rocked that day, and all the Reagan’s could only be glad that they had survived the tragedy. However, they were praying for everyone who had lost someone or something within less than one hour when it happened.


End file.
